Ok, so I've calmed down and this isn't the end of the world. I have faith in Cashman, there is no other GM I'd want. Hopefully Pettitte comes back, that would really help out. I expect another strong year out of CC. Hopefully Hughes puts together another nice year. As crazy as it sounds I expect AJ to have a better season working with this new pitching coach who had to prove to Cashman he could help him out. Nova is fine as a 5th starter.

Joel Sherman has reported they have already been told no on guys like Johnson, Hernandez, Danks, etc. He also said they are not high on a Greinke deal. A deal for Buerhle could really work and if they pull that out and Pettitte returns they should be fine.

Should be interesting to see what Cashman does. Keep the faith! Go Yankees!

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RIP Pat Burns -- RIP Alexander Vasyunov and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Winner of the 2008 Sergei Brylin Award for Most Underrated Poster
Co-Winner of the 2011 Scott Bertoli Award for Best Minor League Poster, Winner of the 2012 Scott Bertoli Award

This is a lot like Scott Niedermayer and the Devils. By waiting around for Lee/Niedermayer all of the other top free agents are off the board.

You have more faith in Cashman than I do. Do you trade Montero and others to bring in a front line starter? Are you OK with taking big risk on Webb or a Wang reunion? Because those are your options right now. The Yankees are not a young team. Their window for winning gets smaller by the year. I don't think you can just suck up 2011 and try to be better in 2012.

Right now I see the Yankees as the third best team in the division. This is not a playoff team.

"The New York football Giants marched into Little D and made 'America's Team' their prison bitch....[and next week the G-Men] will push the Packers up and down the frozen tundra like their own private zamboni!" -- Carl from Adult Swim

This is a lot like Scott Niedermayer and the Devils. By waiting around for Lee/Niedermayer all of the other top free agents are off the board.

Nothing personal, but thats a very flimsy comparison. Niedermayer was a career Devil to that point and not a free agent coming from somewhere else. Niedermayer was given the benefit of the doubt because of where he came from to begin with. It was also a weak defensive free agent market that year. The pitching market this year was incredibly weak outside of Lee. Our problem is starting pitching, who else was available? The target was always going to be Lee and everyone knew that.

The Hot Stove is not over. We can invest a lot of money into the bullpen and bench and maybe trade for a starter either before spring training or wait until July. Boston is definitely better, but not unbeatable. Sabathia, Hughes, Andy (if he comes back) is a solid 3 starter rotation. Burnett may bounce back as well.

I dont blame Lee for choosing Philly. He left a lot of money on the table to go play somewhere he was familiar with, that he enjoyed, and to be on a possibly historic staff. Texas is the one who hurts the most from this.

Nothing personal, but thats a very flimsy comparison. Niedermayer was a career Devil to that point and not a free agent coming from somewhere else. Niedermayer was given the benefit of the doubt because of where he came from to begin with. It was also a weak defensive free agent market that year. The pitching market this year was incredibly weak outside of Lee. Our problem is starting pitching, who else was available? The target was always going to be Lee and everyone knew that.

The Hot Stove is not over. We can invest a lot of money into the bullpen and bench and maybe trade for a starter either before spring training or wait until July. Boston is definitely better, but not unbeatable. Sabathia, Hughes, Andy (if he comes back) is a solid 3 starter rotation. Burnett may bounce back as well.

I dont blame Lee for choosing Philly. He left a lot of money on the table to go play somewhere he was familiar with, that he enjoyed, and to be on a possibly historic staff. Texas is the one who hurts the most from this. A

The comparison is that by waiting around for your top target to make a decision you miss out on other opportunities. Niedermayer being "a lifelong Devil" is immaterial. Waiting cost the Devils and they still paid for it years later. Hell, you could make a case they still have not recovered. Waiting cost the Yankees. Crawford was a legitimate Plan B. You sign Crawford you can move Gardner for a starter. Now? There is no one on the big league roster (outside of maybe Chamberlain whose stock can't be all that high) that you can move. Most of the top bullpen guys are already gone.

I don't blame Lee for choosing Philly, much as I would not have blamed him for choosing Texas or Washington or Kansas CIty. I blame Cashman for not working harder to get it done and not having a viable Plan B.

Cashman is great when he can write big checks or make salary dump moves. I have yet to be impressed with the rest of his work.

"The New York football Giants marched into Little D and made 'America's Team' their prison bitch....[and next week the G-Men] will push the Packers up and down the frozen tundra like their own private zamboni!" -- Carl from Adult Swim

The Yankees have reached an agreement with catcher Russell Martin, reports MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez. With Jorge Posada moving into a designated hitter role next year, Martin should be the Yankees' starting catcher. Since Martin has less than five years of service time, he's under team control for 2012 as an arbitration eligible player.

Martin, 28 in February, hit .248/.347/.332 in 387 plate appearances for the Dodgers before being non-tendered this month. His season ended in August due to a hairline fracture in his right hip, so his Yankees physical is not a formality. Martin was once a rising star for the Dodgers, but he turned down a $4.2MM offer (an $850K pay cut) to return in 2011. The Red Sox and Blue Jays also bid for his services. Martin is represented by Matt Colleran.

This should be a wake-up call for the Yankees to do a better job developing pitchers. They really need Phil Hughes to step it up now. I think Burnett is a lost cause, but maybe the new pitching coach can salvage him.

This should be a wake-up call for the Yankees to do a better job developing pitchers. They really need Phil Hughes to step it up now. I think Burnett is a lost cause, but maybe the new pitching coach can salvage him.

Burnett has always been erratic year to year it seems. I think he can bounce back, but the pressure to do so is huge now.

Really if Pettite comes back and Nova does good enough to be a fifth starter, the Yankees SR will be OK. Boston is obviously a concern, but they weakened Tampa enough that I don't think they'll factor into the playoff race again. If the Yankees want another starter, they should probably turn to someone on the lower end with the ability to eat innings and induce ground balls. Their starting 10 (including Jorge for DH and assuming Martin passes his physical) is locked in and strong. The bench could use a buff or two, considering right now we have Cervelli and Nunez basically. I hear they have interest in bringing Jerry Hairston Jr back, which would be good for bench depth, but we'd be lacking that pinch-hitting threat off the bench.

I love the Martin signing, especially if he is healthy. I'd even have no problem if this meant letting Montero get more seasoning in AAA then calling him up if he is doing well after the first couple months. Either way having Martin helps the Yankees ease over the Posada-Montero switch and takes away bats from Cervelli.

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RIP Pat Burns -- RIP Alexander Vasyunov and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Winner of the 2008 Sergei Brylin Award for Most Underrated Poster
Co-Winner of the 2011 Scott Bertoli Award for Best Minor League Poster, Winner of the 2012 Scott Bertoli Award

I think you guys will like him. Very, very durable, dominant on lefties. The only word of caution is don't believe that hes a crossover reliever based on his non-split stats, because hes not; hes a purely a LOOGY.

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LETS GO METSLETS GO DEVILS

"Take all that clubhouse [expletive] and all that, throw it out the window. Every writer in the country has been writing about that [expletive] for years. Chemistry don't mean [expletive]."

I think you guys will like him. Very, very durable, dominant on lefties. The only word of caution is don't believe that hes a crossover reliever based on his non-split stats, because hes not; hes a purely a LOOGY.

Shhhhhhhhhh!!Go ahead guys, put him in to pitch 2 innings anytime you feel like it. It really doesn't matter who's coming up to bat.

I think you guys will like him. Very, very durable, dominant on lefties. The only word of caution is don't believe that hes a crossover reliever based on his non-split stats, because hes not; hes a purely a LOOGY.

Yanks signed Rafael Soriano, 3/35... plus they give up their 1st round pick. Yikes. I just don't understand what is with so many teams over-valuing relievers this offseason. Though at least in the Yankees' case, they aren't like the 29 other teams, so what the heck do they care.

Scott Boras is amazing.

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LETS GO METSLETS GO DEVILS

"Take all that clubhouse [expletive] and all that, throw it out the window. Every writer in the country has been writing about that [expletive] for years. Chemistry don't mean [expletive]."

26m this offseason on relief pitching, no address made to our horrible depth at SP, beaten leaps-and-bounds by the Red Sox this offseason, minus a first-round pick in a loaded draft, color me pissed. I mean, yeah, he'll help. And Rivera, Feliciano, Soriano, robertson, Aceves/Chamberlain instantly becomes one of the greatest pens in baseball... but right now our pitching situation is CC-Hughes-Burnett-Nova-???

I'm a huge Cashman supporter but I'm not a big fan of this signing. Soriano is a helluva pitcher but relief pitchers are the most inconsistent year to year and sure as hell not worth giving up all that money and a draft pick. I guess the Yankees are hoping that if your starting pitching is suspect that they can shorten the game from the back end. They do have a pretty decent bullpen...it's too bad they messed with Joba's development, really could of used him as a SP right about now.

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RIP Pat Burns -- RIP Alexander Vasyunov and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Winner of the 2008 Sergei Brylin Award for Most Underrated Poster
Co-Winner of the 2011 Scott Bertoli Award for Best Minor League Poster, Winner of the 2012 Scott Bertoli Award